Verifying Game Files Crash [Steam]

I’m making a note here in the hopes that, perhaps, it will help a frustrated gamer out there, somewhere. The issue at hand occurs when you try to launch Team Fortress 2 (TF2), Half-Life (HL, HL2), or Counter-Strike (CS) (any game connected to Steam that uses the HL2 engine). Steam will launch a small window stating “Verifying Game Files.” Typically, this only takes place after updates to the game, or Steam, if Steam detects any game files have been changed, or if selected to do so manually. The issue occurs, however, on every launch. The process launches, subsequently takes a few seconds to “check” — even though it should take a minute or two — then terminates without launching your desired game. Continue reading »

Find Name of Computer (Windows)

Photo by Reigh SierraYour computer is on a local network, and for some reason, you need to find the name of the computer you’re sitting at to share files, printers, or anything else over the network. You chose a name when you first installed the operating system unless your computer was bought pre-built from a store. In the case of the latter, your computer was already assigned some arbitrary name, often with the model number or manufacturers name playing a part in the naming scheme. So… do you know, or remember what it is? No? Well then, follow one of these two methods and you’ll no longer be embarrased when you can’t remember your faithful computer’s name. (Windows XP, Vista, 7)

Method one:

Error: Headers already sent, /wp-includes/pluggable.php [WordPress]

So, you’re using WordPress and you just spent hours looking for the perfect theme to fit your new hybrid kitten-and-knitting blog. You upload the theme’s files into the appropriate folder, navigate to the themes page in the  administrative interface, and click “activate.” So far, so good, right? Later, you notice that anytime you save a page, post, or option, you’re greeted with an error much like the following:

Warning: Cannot modify header information – headers already sent by (output started at /home/user/public_html/ccc/wp-content/themes/broken-theme/includes/theme-options.php:172) in /home/user/public_html/ccc/wp-includes/pluggable.php on line 237

The exact nature of the error and line numbers will vary. The point is, your frilly new theme is broken or there’s a plugin conflict with it. Here’s a funny thing that happened with my situation and I suspect others may benefit from this tip. If you’re receiving these errors, and you’re still logged into your WordPress admin panel, activate a different theme you know works. The real problem begins if you log out.

If you are unable to access any portion of your site, or most importantly, the log in page, you’re going to need to get your hands dirty.

1. FTP into your WordPress themes folder, then to the folder for the offending theme (i.e. wp-content/themes/broken-theme).
2. Copy everything within that theme’s folder to another folder on the server, or to your hard drive (or just delete if you plan on installing fresh).
3. Copy the files from a known-good theme (like the included “classic” or “default”) into the folder you just emptied.
4. You should now be able to access your log in page. (www.yourdomain.com/wp-admin/)

You could just leave it as is and set out to fix or replace your bunk theme, however, I recommend “officially” activating the theme you wish to revert back to, then deleting the duplicate you created in step 3.

Video Not Playing? Check Your Overlay Options!

Intel Graphics Media Accelerator Utility

The problem: This recent discovery–rather, rediscovery– was the final straw, causing me to reformat and reinstall a fresh copy of Windows on my laptop. I had been meaning to do it for a long time (something like 2 years), but I never found myself in the mood. However, something came up, and I needed to play a video on my laptop, which hadn’t worked for a few months (sound worked, no picture). On previous occasions I reinstalled the graphics driver, I reinstalled all the required codecs, and I tried playing the videos on Windows Media Player, VLC, Windows Media Classic, and Quicktime. Flash based videos from Hulu and YouTube worked wonderfully, just nothing else. So, on this particular occasion, I decided that it was far more difficult to troubleshoot the video problem than to just wipe the sucker.

But, the problem returned. $%&#!!

The solution: In a rare moment of serendipity, I recalled the Intel driver for my laptop’s integrated Intel 915GM Express Chipset installs a utility. This utility, the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator, includes a interface for adjusting the color, contrast, and brightness of a hardware accelerated video overlay. Years ago, I had the same problem where I eventually discovered (likely serendipitous as well) that, for reasons unknown to me, the options for the video overlay had been set to zero, so the overlay would appear pure black. So, the picture had been there the whole time, it had just been blacked-out. Returning the values to default will set everything right.

Now, knowing what to search for, I’ve found that it’s a known issue with the latest version of the driver, and can be corrected by downgrading (meaning Intel no longer support the driver, and you’re stuck with it.).

For more information, see the official Intel support page.

Change Permissions [chmod] with Dreamweaver [Update]

Last April, I reported my findings on how to use Adobe (formerly by Macromedia) Dreamweaver to change the permissions of web files and folders. The versions of Dreamweaver I had used were older, and the only way to accomplish this was to use a command-line interface built into Dreamweaver to enter FTP commands the ol’ fashioned way.

Being, by far, the most popular post with several follow-up comments, I felt it was time for an updated post with all the tips rolled together.

WordPress Stats Showing “Dummy” Image

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Upon viewing your blog stats generated by the WordPress Stats plugin you see an image that looks like a bar graph with data back to 2003 with two colors, one representing “Region A” and the other, “Region B,” you’re looking at a dummy image that WordPress Stats inserts when something goes awry. (Personally, I think it would be better if something more descriptive was there, like an image that says “i is BROKDED!”) I wish I would had the foresight to take a screen shot of the image before I fixed the problem, but at any rate, the problem is resolved.

My solution (thank God, the easy one): Deactive the plugin, delete all related files, upload a fresh copy, and reactivate. You will have to re-enter your WordPress.com API key, and to keep your stats, choose to “Replace” the blog (the plugin will guide you through these steps) with the same URL that you’re reactivating.

If that doesn’t take care of the issue, there are other solutions in this thread.

Good luck!

Flash/Shockwave Crashes when Viewing Ustream.tv [IPCamera_MJPEG.ax]

So, after about a month of wrestling with Ustream.tv and any other web site that imbeds interactive Adobe Flash or Shockwave videos, I decided I should actually take a good look at the error reports that Firefox and Chrome create on crash. I discovered that a module called IPCamera_MJPEG.ax was causing an issue. Normally, IPCamera_MJPEG.ax is found in C:\Windows\system32, but mine wasn’t there. I read on Ustream’s official forums, though, that other encoders and camera capture utilities from other cam streaming sites will cause an issue. One user reported the encoder for Justin.tv was the issue. Mine? The Camstreams encoder was the culprit. Once I uninstalled it (I wasn’t using it anyway), Ustream.tv behaved like an angel!

Just in case your issue isn’t with Camstreams or any other encoder, here’s some other ideas:

• Windows Media Encoder (the Camstreams encoder is based off of WME, so WME might cause an issue too)
• Outdated or corrupted video drivers. Update or reinstall the drivers any chipset or add-on graphics card you have.
• Outdated Flash or Shockwave. Completely uninstall Flash and Shockwave. Adobe provides uninstall programs to clean all traces. Reinstall.
• Other browser plugins. Though, less likely, it is possible that other plugins in your browser of choice are causing conflicts. Disable all of them, and renable them one-by-one while reloading Ustream (or any other site giving you trouble) to catch the culprit.
• format c:
  (disclaimer: It’s a joke ^…. I don’t want to be responsible for a wiped drive!)